The Zamfara State Government has accused the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, of using the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to allegedly harass and intimidate opposition figures in the state.
This was revealed in a statement by the spokesperson of the governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, on Wednesday.
He said the Zamfara State Government was left with no other option but to bring to public notice how the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has used the office of the National Security Adviser to harass and intimidate the opposition.
The statement said, “We received a shocking and distressing message that Saleem Abubakar, a Technical Assistant in the Office of the Zamfara State Governor, was abducted in Abuja yesterday.
“The illegal abduction was said to be carried out by a special forces unit from the office of the National Security Adviser.
“The most unfortunate and worrying part of the abduction of Saleem Abubakar is that it was syndicated through the office of the NSA by the State Minister for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
“The abductors, without an arrest warrant, took Saleem to an unknown location, which we later found out they moved him to different facilities to cover their tracks.
“This is a perilous precedent that all Nigerians must strongly condemn. No amount of desperation is worth compromising the neutrality of the security.
“We cannot afford to fold our arms and watch the highest security office of the country being used as a tool of political persecution.”
The state government urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call the office of the National Security Adviser to order, saying that “Such reckless actions are detrimental to Nigeria’s reputation.”
It added that if Mr Matawalle or the abductors of Saleem Abubakar from the National Security Adviser’s office have any problem with him, they should charge him in court instead of abducting him.
“We are closely monitoring this case of federal impunity and will follow it to a logical conclusion, ensuring that justice is served,” the statement said.
